Why are we offering this Master programme? Because we see a great need for it in three respects.
First, there are no study programmes in Germany and only very few in Europe focusing on international organisations, even though many of you may consider to pursue a career in one of the almost 300 international governmental organisations or the 9000 international non-governmental organisations worldwide. International organisations are active in almost all policy fields. They pervade world politics and are highly relevant in an ever more interconnected world.
Second, we are broadening the traditional understanding of peace and conflict studies. Our understanding of crises is more complex, including challenges such as refugee flows, pandemics and human rights violations. And our unique focus is on the management of those crises, i.e. how actors try to alleviate their effects when they break out and, even better, prevent them from arising.
Third, our particular focus is on how international organisations manage those conflicts and crises. This is their supreme task. They are crisis managers, be it the World Food Programme fighting famine, the World Meteorological Organisation forecasting and mitigating tornadoes, flash floods and droughts or the OSCE monitoring fragile ceasefires.
